1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to cartridge casing collection apparatus and more particularly concerns a container, such as a bag, that may be quickly and easily attached to the side of a gun in position to receive cartridge casings as they are expelled from the gun.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a gun is fired, the explosion takes place in the cartridge casing behind the bullet and, accordingly, when the casing is immediately ejected from the gun, a quantity of gas remains in the casing. This gas is toxic and, if it accumulates in a closed compartment such as the inside of a tank or of a similar military vehicle, it may asphyxiate the occupants of the compartment.
In the past when a few guns were mounted in a tank or the like for firing through portholes in the tank by persons inside the tank, one method of handling the empty cartridge casings discharged from the gun was to mount a bag adjacent the ejection port of the gun in position to receive the casings as they were hurled out of the gun. While the bag was positioned close to the port, it was not sealed over the port and there was no attempt made to prevent gases, that might ooze from the casings as they are ejected, from escaping into the atmosphere. When the bag was almost full, it was removed from the gun and dropped on the floor of the vehicle. An exhaust system in the vehicle was relied on to continuously remove gases from the interior of the vehicle at a rate fast enough to insure that no toxic accumulation of gases would result. It has been determined that, when approximately seven M16 submachine guns are mounted in a closed vehicle for rapid firing through portholes, a central exhaust system of practicable size probably would not be capable of removing gases fast enough if the casings are collected in bags and the unsealed bags are dropped on the floor of the vehicle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for collecting cartridge casings ejected from a gun in a manner such that substantially no gases escape to the interior of the vehicle in which the guns are mounted.
Another object is to provide a casing collection container that may be removably attached to a gun to receive casings and may be sealed after casings are deposited therein so that gases will not escape to the interior of the vehicle even if the container is dropped on the floor of the vehicle.